Search form

Facilities

It's sticker shock for taxpayers in Salt Lake City , where the new multi-faceted museum project, the Leonardo (the former Main Library), is going to cost $33 million dollars, thirteen million more than originally projected.

Mayor Rocky Anderson is pushing the plan - he has sent e-mails to City Council members - and insiders are scrambling to lobby for a sales-tax revenue bond. The term would extend 20 years.
Mary Tull, Leonardo's director, points to staggering spikes on everything from seismic stabilization and asbestos removal to certifying the building as environmentally sound.
"We have been struggling with the architects and the city to try to get the architectural budget down during this horrendous scope of inflation," Tull said. "It's unreal."

The Norman Transcript posts a rather decent talk with an architect specializing in the art of building libraries. He talks about some of the concerns, challenges, and rewards of being able to design some of the 250 libraries built in America every year.

It does this old Circ guy's heart good when the first thing he mentions is problems with the placement of a Circ desk and how important that is. Having been through more than a couple remodelings, I can fully relate to that.

The fantastic new $20 million Encinitas, CA library facility is currently under construction. The mayor, James Bond (yup) says "I'm not in any way trying to denigrate the value of the library, it will just be totally different. I think it will be more of an intellectual coffee shop than a library. Heaven knows it will have one of the best patio views in the city."

Wonder if there's going to be coffee in the 'intellectual coffee shop'. Wonder what he's got against libraries?

Building one of those new fangled libraries with all the fancy architecture and more glass than a crystal palace? Well then, bucko, you'll need some shelves won't you? And if you're going for the surreal, cantilevered, looks like it'll fall down at any minute look, you'll want some matching shelves.